In the mid-nineteenth century, John Sutter, a European immigrant from Baden, Germany had been granted almost 50,000 acres of generally wooded land by Mexico just northeast of Sacramento, California with the intention of establishing a colony of Europeans loyal to Mexico and committed to keeping Americans from moving in and taking the land. As the leader of the colony, Sutter needed a sawmill to provide lumber for the settlers to build homesteads. Since there was no electricity then, Sutter needed water to power the equipment at the mill.
On January 24,1848, while working on construction of the mill, James Marshall, a carpenter from New Jersey that Sutter had hired to help build the mill found flakes of gold in the South Fork American River. Once the flakes were confirmed to be truly gold, the first flake was sent to President James Polk in Washington and it is presently on display in the Smithsonian Museum.
Whenever gold is discovered, “gold fever” invariably breaks out. People far and near drop what they are doing and leave to search for gold. In the case of Sutter’s Mills, the surrounding population grew from 14,000 to 224,000 in just four years. Before those four years were up, California became U.S. territory.
WHERE DOES THE GOLD COME FROM?
Gold is not native to our planet. It was formed in the heart of exploding stars and from there traveled across the galaxy, carried by meteors and asteroids to eventually be deposited on our planet. When it landed on Earth during the era of active volcanos and lava flows, it melted and then entered cracks in the native rock where it produced “veins.” Gold deposits are generally found deep in the earth. Earthquakes, landslides and other natural weathering processes break off pieces of gold from the “mother lode” however. Running water transports small pieces of gold and deposits them throughout the sand and silt of creek beds. Because gold is a heavy metal, the pea-sized (or larger) nuggets sink to the bottom and are easily buried in the debris of the creek or river bed.
PANNING FOR GOLD
Prospectors in the Gold Rush used pans or sieve-like devices to dredge loose gravel from the bottom of the creek or river and then carefully examine the gravel, looking for tailings that shine. Not everything that glitters is gold, however. Pyrite, a worthless mineral commonly called “Fool’s Gold” can be confused with true gold. Superficially, it appears to be gold, but a closer examination by someone who knows the difference can easily disprove any notion that it is authentic. It’s like deepfake photos today. They appear to be genuine, but there is distortion around the edges or other clues that call the authenticity of the photo into question. You just have to know where to look.
Once the gravel in the pan has been thoroughly inspected, the gravel is tossed aside and another pan full of gravel is scooped up. The prospector usually squats, the gravel is heavy and hours are spent every day doing this repetitive backbreaking chore. Some people spent years of their lives without finding more than one or two nuggets. Some strike it rich the first week. Meanwhile, a prospector needs food and supplies in order to live on site, and there are more than a few “claim jumpers” and thieves ready to steal his treasure or his prospecting site while he travels to town for supplies. But the exhilaration a miner feels when he finds a nugget of gold makes the search, sweat and sacrifice all worthwhile.
SIFTING FOR TRUTH
If only we were equally diligent in searching for the truth on any given matter. All too often we accept less than the truth as fact, especially if it reinforces a core belief wo hold, or when we give up searching for the truth entirely. In another sense, searching for gold is like searching for God. Hebrews 11:6 says that God is “a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him.” Finding God involves sifting diligently through all sorts of subjective experiences, painful memories, feelings of hopelessness anger and sorrow, false doctrines of men, conspiracy theories and so on. But when you suddenly discover that golden presence, that flash of light in the dark drudgery of your life, everything will have been worthwhile!
This post is a guide on how to “pan” or “sift” for the truth, even as the prospectors panned for gold “back in the day.” It will help you separate the wheat from the chaff and the gold from the grit.
DISCERNING TRUTH
Much of what we encounter daily is not worth tracking down. Do you really care if they have to close the beaches at the French Riviera because of algae bloom or if the Chinese navy chased Philippine fisherman away from the Scarborough Shoal? A pitcher for the Chicago Cubs with an ERA of 6.23? Just another future trade. Would these stories even be worth your time investigating? On the other hand, you might be interested if something startling happened in our country, such as the arrest of a prominent government official or some provocative comment heard over a hot mike.
START WITH FACT CHECKING
The first thing to do is check the facts. Are undocumented immigrants in Ohio actually stealing people’s pets or geese from the public parks and eating them? Suppose the story was that illegal immigrants in Ohio brought pets along with them from Haiti and Americans were stealing and eating the Haitian pets? You would not believe that! But you could believe the worst about Haitians. Is that because they speak French? Because they are Black? Or is it something else? Elected officials in Springfield said that there was not a shred of evidence to these rumors, yet thousands of news people on conservative broadcast stations, journalists and bloggers repeated it and millions of people believed it. To this day, Springfield has a webpage to try to correct misperceptions about their city. Have you read it? I have it hyperlinked above if you have the time. When this topic came up in the first Presidential debate, President Trump repeated it several times, and the moderator who had researched the accusation before the debate and found it to be false called him on it. Yet, instead of being applauded for due diligence for fact checking, the host was roundly criticized.
When President Trump was sworn in last month, a few astute viewers claimed that his left hand did not actually touch the Bible while he was taking his oath of office. The suggestion was that the oath was somehow illegal or he was for some reason afraid of touching the Bible. In fact, there is no requirement for a Bible to even be present when taking the oath of office if you are the incoming President or Vice-President. It could be a copy of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, though you might have trouble explaining that!
If you watch CNN regularly, you also should spend some time watching Fox, especially if there is a breaking story or something of significant importance. And, the opposite is true as well. If there is a breaking news story someplace in the world that I find personally important or interesting, I go to the newspapers and television websites in that locale to see what they are writing and reporting. If I read that a pastor has been threatening government officials or preaching sedition, I go to the webpage for his church. Sometimes I check to see if he has ever been arrested before. It’s amazing what you do not read from the wire services.
ARE THERE OTHER SOURCES TALKING ABOUT THIS?
I noticed on social media yesterday that the President currently has a large, dark spot on the back of his right hand. I checked to see who else was reporting it and I found an enlargement of his hand on another news site (perhaps Yahoo.) The White House said his hand was just sore because so many adoring fans wanted to shake his hand. However, I’ve seen this same lesion in clinical settings. It affects older people (President Joe Biden and Senator Mitch McConnell had it as well last year if I recall correctly.) It is most often caused when a person is on blood thinners and or has had some sort of trauma to his hand. It does not come from shaking hands, though I have no doubt his hand was sore. I watched him as he spoke to reporters last night from the Oval Office. He made sure to keep his right hand covered by his left. That, of course, is not by itself important and it is possible that that’s how he normally sits. But if he has a large hematoma and does not want people to notice it and ask about it, it would make sense that he would try to hide it. At least one media account mentioned that the photo enlargement showed signs that some makeup had been applied, likely to minimize the appearance of the bruise, but I did not notice it and have no way of knowing if that was true.
Often, the first indication of a major story comes from a tabloid. However, tabloids are sensational and scandalous and they are frequently wrong. They are also frequently sued as well.
Another reason to visit several different media channels or webzines is to see what they are all agreeing on. Usually–but not always–what they agree on is accurate. But if they are all using the same wire service, then any error will obviously be repeated over and over. If there are inconsistencies among the media, note what these issues are. See what commentators are saying, but be aware that people who write editorials or opinion pieces are biased and will try to spin the news to their own point of view That is not necessarily bad–just be aware of it.
CONSIDER THE SOURCE
All else being equal, I prefer to depend onnews media that have been around for generations and which have been recognized repeatedly for excellence in journalism. Media that have only been around for thirty or forty years may have outstanding journalism, but they probably don’t have much of a track record. I often check who owns a media outlet? Who owns The Washington Post? The Wall Street Journal? The Epoch Times? The Houston Chronicle?
It has always been important in America to present facts and present opinions in different, designated parts of a newspaper, magazine or news broadcast. That is one way to minimize logical fallacies (see below for the definition.) For this reason, I avoid programs or blogs where the two functions are combined. Some cable news and talk radio programs feature a well know personality who presents both news and opinion together, calling themselves commentators or such rather than journalists.
It is also useful to research the author of articles and/or people mentioned in a news story. As an example, a person who worked in President Trump’s first administration eventually became a staunch critic. I did some background research that indicated this person had several DUI related arrests in the past prior to working in Washington. Rightly or wrongly, it is hard for me to accept what this person says at face value, even if this person’s comments support my own political bias.
MEDIA BIAS
We’re all aware that our media is biased. MSNBC and The New York Times are liberal. One America News and The Washington Times are conservative. But there are other subtle biases that can be noticed by what stories a media outlet reports on and what stories they pass on. It is also true at least in my opinion that some terms and phrases such as “racism,” “white supremacy,” “Islamophobia” and are sometimes being improperly and too frequently used. For example, is someone who attends Catholic mass really misogynous because the Catholic church does not ordain women?
THINKING ANALYTICALLY
Look for logical fallacies leaps in reasoning (including conclusions that do not flow from the facts presented.). A logical fallacy will
“make an argument weak by using mistaken beliefs/ideas, invalid arguments, illogical arguments, and/or deceptiveness. If you are arguing, avoid fallacies of thought because they create weaknesses in an argument.“
A logical fallacy might unfairly tear down the character or credibility of a witness. Or, by begging the question. For example, “Should ‘Lyin’ Jack Lambert’ be believed this time?” I’ve seen conservative news outlets that normally only include the first and last name of a person that go out of their way to include Barak Obama’s middle name (“Hussein.”) Tell me that this isn’t to suggest to Americans that Barak Obama is a closet Muslim.
BE A CRITICAL LISTENER
I have lost track of the number of times politicians say the most outrageous things and they are not called on it. Usually, it’s because the person interviewing them is not listening to what the guest is actually saying. Instead, they are scanning their notes to phrase their next question. One of the problems today is that candidates make promises to the voters that they cannot reasonably keep in order to be elected. Once they are elected to office then, they put their own selfish promises to the people who elected them above the general public good. So, if someone promises to cut your taxes on the one hand while vastly improving government services, then they should be asked how that could be possible. Is it worth providing a low-income family an extra five hundred dollars return on their income tax owed if you are going to increase the annual cost of their Medicaid by $2,500 a year?
Another thing is when a politician or other public figure is “caught in the act.” Let’s say a governor has been arrested for bribery. There is absolutely no doubt of his guilt. Instead of confessing, however, he’ll say “This is a witch hunt!” Or, “my opponents are playing dirty politics again.” He might say “Frankly, I’m outraged that I have to stand here to defend myself from these ridiculous charges.” Notice he never said he was innocent. He is just sorry he was caught.
AVOID SPREADING UNSUBSTANTIATED RUMORS AND PROPAGANDA
When living in Texas, I somehow wound up on a neighbor’s mailing list. He lived on my street and he got my e-mail address because there was a discussion online among my neighbors about resurfacing the access road. One day, I received an e-mail from him with 8-12 other addresses that received complimentary copies. The e-mail began with the sentence “I don’t know if this is true, but I think you should know . . .” As it turns out, “this” referred to some preposterous action that government was about to do. Today, I am a moderator on the Next Door app that covers much of my county. There are grouchy subscribers that love to stir the pot. They don’t personally take sides on a controversial issue, but it’s clear to me that they just want other neighbors to go after each other.
Unnamed sources can be completely credible depending on the media outlet that uses them. Reliable newspapers will seek corroboration from other officials involved with the story. But that standard is not always practiced.
WHEN YOU CAN WATCH A PERSON TALKING OR TESTIFYING
Trial lawyer Mitch Jackson offers some rudimentary advice in understanding if someone is lying. He points out that 70% of communication in nonverbal, and often nonverbal communication reveals the truth in a statement. Jackson looks for disconnects in answers. In his own words:
“In court, during depositions and negotiations, when I ask the other person a question, I pay attention to whether or not his verbal answer is consistent with his nonverbal behavior. Individuals who are lying will often cover or close their eyes or mouth when speaking. In the thousands of cases I’ve handled and, as confirmed by experts, I’ve learned that people will cover their eyes when lying to shield themselves from the reaction of the other person that they’re lying to.”
Jackson says he also observes how a witness clears his throat and swallows before answering a question.
“A person who lies will often clear his throat or engage in an exaggerated swallow before answering my question. This happens because the individual who is lying is intentionally or unintentionally prefacing his lie with a nonverbal confirmation that what he’s going to say is important. From a physiological standpoint, this happens because the question and stress of an anticipated lie can create anxiety resulting in dryness and discomfort in the throat and mouth.
Removing drinks and food from the place of conversation may allow you to more easily notice when this happens. When you do this, the other person may ask for a drink to quench his thirst or for his dry mouth, and this will tip you off as to the possibility of a lie coming your way. How do I do this? Well, before I call the other side’s witnesses to the stand, I usually arrive to my courtroom a few minutes early and remove the water container from the witness stand and place it over on the counsel table.”
Other indications of a person telling a lie that Jackson frequently encounters include when they avert their eyes from him, or blink rapidly, bit their lip and adjust their tie, clean their glassed, wipe their brow and bite their lip. Of course, many of us do these things daily, but Jackson looks for a preponderance of these signals to evaluate the veracity of a witness.
It is very important to be critical listeners. Most people vote according to their self-interest, but you should not sell yourself (your vote) so cheaply. You should search for the best candidate you can find to represent you, but you won’t know who that is if you don’t listen carefully–and critically–to what they have to say.
